Sen. Mitt Romey, R-Utah, admitted he is “pretty sure” former president Donald Trump would win the 2024 Republican nomination if he decided to run again.
“He has by far the largest voice and a big impact in my party,” Romney told the New York Times.
“I don’t know about his family members, whether they intend to do that, but I expect he will continue playing a role,” Romney added.
Speculation has mounted that Trump’s children and their spouses—several of whom played key roles in his administration and campaign—may launch their own political careers.
That could potentially pave the way for a powerful new dynasty.
Eric Trump has publicly promised to support primary candidates against faithless GOP members, like Romney, who voted in favor of impeachment.
The failed effort by House Democrats would have barred his father from holding federal office if it had succeeded.
Eric’s wife, Lara, has frequently been floated as a potential candidate to fill the vacancy of retiring North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr.
Trump’s eldest son, Don Jr., has also openly fueled rumors of a possible run on social media.
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Although President Trump, himself, has not yet said whether he plans to run again, he noted earlier this month that he’d seen “a lot of great polls out there.”
“We have tremendous support,” Trump said. “I won’t say yet [if I’m running again], but I have tremendous support, and I’m looking at poll numbers that are through the roof. … I’m the only guy who gets impeached and my numbers go up.”
Trump’s speech this weekend at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando may clear up some of the lingering ambiguity.
Axios reported that Trump planned to assert his role as the party’s defacto leader and its “presumptive” presidential nominee.
Despite being one of Trump’s fiercest critics within the party, Romney—who lost the 2012 presidential race to incumbent Barack Obama—predicted it would be difficult for Republicans to find another candidate who has the same draw.
While “a lot can happen between now and 2024… I’m pretty sure he will win the nomination,” Romney said.
“I look at the polls and the polls show that, among the names being floated as potential contenders in 2024, if you put President Trump in there among Republicans he wins in a landslide,” he said.
When asked whether he would run against Trump if the former president did decide to run, Romney said he would probably opt to support another contender in the party.
“I would not be voting for President Trump again. I haven’t voted for him in the past and I would probably be getting behind somebody who I thought more represented the tiny wing of the Republican Party that I represent,” he explained.
Romney did credit Trump for kick-starting a populist movement that isn’t “going away any time soon.”
Despite their obvious disdain, if establishment Republicans were to abandon Trump and his supporters, many speculate that the resulting split could create a powerful third party and potentially help secure Democrats’ political dominance.
But Romney remained optimistic that the pendulum might someday swing back in his favor.
“I think, over time, policies that endure—and that really help the American family—will be more successful,” he said. “So, I remain—if you will—a more traditional conservative than some of the populist rhetoric within my party.”
Headline USA’s Ben Sellers contributed to this report.
